Post by Sai on Jan 18, 2015 0:40:19 GMT -4
I agree that ~edge of the unknown~ was waaay too gorgeous to be left an interlude! Ah well.
Stand Up!: This is pretty much quintessential Yui. Upbeat, strings/fiddle-y, uplifting, poppy. It's such a euphoric blend of all of those things and the result is a really fun, surprisingly grand and sweeping track. Perfect for the first new song of the album and for a promotional track!
Happy End: Very cute, a nice follow up to Stand Up!. I like that it carries over the harpsichord motifs from Stand Up!, which really does give these songs a very fairytale/storybook-esque sound to them, if that makes sense. Fitting with the album's aesthetic. I can already tell this song is going to be fun in concert.
Mystery...: Loooove this! I'm putting my money on this being the "battle" song of the next concert. It's so intense and frantic, they really captured the energy well here.
Honno Chotto: This one seemed the most filler-y to me. I had to listen to it twice because the first time it pretty much just went in one ear and out the other xD It's nice, but very forgettable.
Kono basho de: Whoooa, how pretty. This song is so nostalgic. It'll be a good walking-around-at-sunset-during-the-summer song xD.
innocent note: For whatever reason, this title intrigued me the most from the tracklist, and I think it's one of my favourite tracks. I looove the melody, and the cool/epic sound of it. It's similar to Mystery... but is a bit catchier, I think. Now I'm actually not sure whether it'll be this or Mystery... to be the next concert's battle song. Hm. Anyway, this is a definite win. The chorus is perfect, and the striiiings. I'd love to see this song performed with live strings!
Girl Friend: This song kind of feels like a more generic The World's End. It's pleasant, and makes for a nice, celebratory denouement for the album,
Garden: Unnnnf. This song is beautiful. I liked Kono Basho de, but I was really really hoping one of the remaining tracks would be one of Yui's airy/magical-sounding ballads, in the vein of sky fish or Himitsu ~Kimi wo miteta~, and here we are! This song is so magical sounding, and is a really nice way to end the album. The arrangement is gorgeous and has a really nice energy to it, keeping it from becoming too generic a ballad.
Overall, this album was solid. It had a very cohesive sound throughout, and all the songs felt very full; what really stood out to me were the rich arrangements each song got. Some really gorgeous instrumentation was happening here, and I feel like it'll take a few listens for each song for me to fully appreciate them - which I wholeheartedly look forward to.
I was hoping for at least one dance-y track in the likes of Get Up&Go, Coloring, Vanilla Salt, etc., but no such luck. The album also felt very... safe? There weren't any experimental tracks that threw me off like CHILDISH LOVE WORLD, DEAR FUTURE, Immoralist, or MISSION did on the last album. Admittedly, I think World End Garden made a better first impression on me than Himitsu did, but that's partially because Yui's starved us for a new album since 2012, making me appreciate the music a lot more, and also because as I mentioned, this album's more safe and conventional and less alienating than Himitsu was, in part. But Himitsu's grown on me immensely since then, with the help of live performances, so I can't be so quick to say which one is the better album overall.
Anyway! As for favourite tracks, based off a first listening: Stand Up!, Mystery..., innocent note, and Garden. Least favourite track is probably Honno Chotto. I've loved all the single tracks at various different points throughout the year, so no complaints there - though my favourite is probably Sweet&Sweet Cherry.
I'm very glad I bought this album! Definitely a quality product.
Stand Up!: This is pretty much quintessential Yui. Upbeat, strings/fiddle-y, uplifting, poppy. It's such a euphoric blend of all of those things and the result is a really fun, surprisingly grand and sweeping track. Perfect for the first new song of the album and for a promotional track!
Happy End: Very cute, a nice follow up to Stand Up!. I like that it carries over the harpsichord motifs from Stand Up!, which really does give these songs a very fairytale/storybook-esque sound to them, if that makes sense. Fitting with the album's aesthetic. I can already tell this song is going to be fun in concert.
Mystery...: Loooove this! I'm putting my money on this being the "battle" song of the next concert. It's so intense and frantic, they really captured the energy well here.
Honno Chotto: This one seemed the most filler-y to me. I had to listen to it twice because the first time it pretty much just went in one ear and out the other xD It's nice, but very forgettable.
Kono basho de: Whoooa, how pretty. This song is so nostalgic. It'll be a good walking-around-at-sunset-during-the-summer song xD.
innocent note: For whatever reason, this title intrigued me the most from the tracklist, and I think it's one of my favourite tracks. I looove the melody, and the cool/epic sound of it. It's similar to Mystery... but is a bit catchier, I think. Now I'm actually not sure whether it'll be this or Mystery... to be the next concert's battle song. Hm. Anyway, this is a definite win. The chorus is perfect, and the striiiings. I'd love to see this song performed with live strings!
Girl Friend: This song kind of feels like a more generic The World's End. It's pleasant, and makes for a nice, celebratory denouement for the album,
Garden: Unnnnf. This song is beautiful. I liked Kono Basho de, but I was really really hoping one of the remaining tracks would be one of Yui's airy/magical-sounding ballads, in the vein of sky fish or Himitsu ~Kimi wo miteta~, and here we are! This song is so magical sounding, and is a really nice way to end the album. The arrangement is gorgeous and has a really nice energy to it, keeping it from becoming too generic a ballad.
Overall, this album was solid. It had a very cohesive sound throughout, and all the songs felt very full; what really stood out to me were the rich arrangements each song got. Some really gorgeous instrumentation was happening here, and I feel like it'll take a few listens for each song for me to fully appreciate them - which I wholeheartedly look forward to.
I was hoping for at least one dance-y track in the likes of Get Up&Go, Coloring, Vanilla Salt, etc., but no such luck. The album also felt very... safe? There weren't any experimental tracks that threw me off like CHILDISH LOVE WORLD, DEAR FUTURE, Immoralist, or MISSION did on the last album. Admittedly, I think World End Garden made a better first impression on me than Himitsu did, but that's partially because Yui's starved us for a new album since 2012, making me appreciate the music a lot more, and also because as I mentioned, this album's more safe and conventional and less alienating than Himitsu was, in part. But Himitsu's grown on me immensely since then, with the help of live performances, so I can't be so quick to say which one is the better album overall.
Anyway! As for favourite tracks, based off a first listening: Stand Up!, Mystery..., innocent note, and Garden. Least favourite track is probably Honno Chotto. I've loved all the single tracks at various different points throughout the year, so no complaints there - though my favourite is probably Sweet&Sweet Cherry.
I'm very glad I bought this album! Definitely a quality product.